GREEN BAY – Two Shawano men will serve federal prison terms for buying guns on behalf of people legally prohibited from making the purchases for themselves.

Gary W. Hancock, 24, and Jesus Zepeda, 29, made false statements during the purchase of firearms, according to court documents. The crime, called making a straw purchase, is done for the purpose of providing guns to people who wouldn’t be able to pass firearm background checks.

The two men were sentenced this month in U.S. District Court in Green Bay. U.S. Judge William Griesbach gave Hancock 15 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and Zepeda a year in prison and two years on supervised release.

Hancock made three straw purchases in 2014 at Zepeda’s urging, and Zepeda helped him buy the firearms from licensed dealers in the Green Bay area, according to court documents.

Hancock made false statements on forms that were part of the background check, and the men transferred the firearms to people who were federally prohibited from having them, court records say.

Two of the firearms were among 16 that U.S. Customs and Border Patrol seized in August 2015 from a vehicle trying to transport them into Mexico, court records say. Another gun was recovered that same month as part of a drug-related search warrant executed at a California home.

Hancock told investigators he had bought guns for a drug and firearm trafficking ring based in the San Francisco Bay area, according to court records.